Selangor Journal
A man wearing protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), stands in front of a stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, March 10, 2020. —Picture by REUTERS

Asian stocks poised to rise after Wall Street gains slip away

WASHINGTON, April 24 — Asia equities face a bumpy session today after Wall Street pared early gains as optimism over a rebound in oil prices and prospects for further government stimulus were offset by stark economic data showing the toll of the coronavirus pandemic.

Wall Street closed little changed yesterday in the hope a third straight decline in weekly jobless claims signaled the worst of the pandemic’s impact on the labor market was over.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures were down 0.1 per cent but the contract is up 1.4 per cent from the Nikkei’s index close of 19,137.95 yesterday.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 futures were up 0.23 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures rose 0.2 per cent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.39 per cent higher

The main US stock indexes lost momentum, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq turning negative at the close, as investors digested a report that an experimental antiviral drug for the coronavirus flopped in its first randomised clinical trial.

Gilead Sciences Inc said the findings were inconclusive because the study conducted in China was terminated early.

Sensitivity to news related to coronavirus therapies reflects investors’ desperation for any indication of when the global economy might be able to start returning to normal, said chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel, Tim Ghriskey.

“Any piece of bad news is likely to rattle the market,” Ghriskey said. “Investors are keen for a semblance of hope that they can soon crawl out of their homes and get on with some form of normal life, even if with trepidation and fear.”

The US House of Representatives passed a US$484 billion bill to expand federal loans to small businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and hospitals overwhelmed by patients suffering from Covid-19.

President Donald Trump, who has said he will sign the bill, said late yesterday that he may need to extend social distancing guidelines to early summer.

The energy index rose 3 per cent, easily leading the 11 S&P 500 sectors as oil prices recovered in a tumultuous week that saw US crude futures crash below zero for the first time in history.

The decline on Monday came amid an April rally of US stock indexes eyeing a raft of global stimulus. However, the benchmark S&P 500 remains more than 15 per cent below its record high as worsening economic indicators foreshadow a deep global recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.44 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 23,515.26, the S&P 500 lost 1.51 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 2,797.8 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.63 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 8,494.75.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.94 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.32 per cent.

US business activity plumbed record lows in April, mirroring dire figures from Europe and Asia as strict stay-at-home orders crushed production, supply chains and consumer spending, a survey showed.

Meanwhile, in a virtual meeting, divided European Union leaders began their search yesterday for a joint financial fund of up to 2 trillion Euros to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic and avoid an economic collapse in the bloc’s poorer south.

The US dollar edged higher against the euro in a choppy session after the meeting of the 27-member bloc leaders ended without any agreement on details.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled she was open to offering major financial support for a coronavirus recovery package, but wanted to see how it would be used before committing.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe’s response to economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus crisis required financial transfers to the hardest-hit regions and not just loans.

Brent rose 96 cents, or 4.7 per cent, to settle at US$21.33 a barrel, while US crude jumped US$2.72, or 19.7 per cent, to settle at US$16.50. These gains extend oil’s rebound after major oil-producing nations said they would accelerate planned production cuts to combat the dramatic slump in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

— Reuters

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